No longer a 'kid,' Anthony Pettis eyes big return at UFC on FOX 6

To hear Anthony Pettis talk about not being a kid anymore, at the staggering “old” age of 25, almost is reason to cut him off – to tell him a thing or two about being old.

“What I wouldn’t give to be 25 again …” is the temptation. But he goes on, uninterrupted, until he hits his point, which is a good one.

On the shelf since a February win over Joe Lauzon, it’s clear Pettis (15-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is sincerely itching to get back in the octagon. And he finally gets his chance in January when he meets fellow former WEC standout Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (19-4 MMA, 6-1 UFC) on the main card of UFC on FOX 6 in Chicago.

The time he’s been out has been the result of shoulder surgery and a lengthier-than-expected recovery time, and just when things were looking up, he got a trip to the hospital with a skin infection, just for good measure.

But the time off has taught the old man, who will turn 26 on Jan. 27, the day after he fights Cerrone, a few lessons.

“One of them is, I’m not just a kid and can jump right back from injuries,” Pettis told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’ve had injuries when I was younger and I’d jump right back and be ready to go. Now I have to worry about my body long-term and do it the right way. I can’t cut any corners, I can’t take any shortcuts. This has to be done and healed up 100 percent, or my career is at stake. That’s a big lesson I learned.”

Now, though, Pettis is healed. He’s back in the gym hard-core with the team at Roufusport in Milwaukee, where he recently became a co-owner of one of the sport’s most renowned MMA academies.

And while he says he’s not dwelling on his past, he certainly has an eye on the future and what he can help make happen with a win over Cerrone.

“Training’s going good – I’m back at it 100 percent,” he said. “It’s feeling good to be able to do my craft without any injuries or complaints. I’m excited to get back in the cage and continue my legacy. I’m going for that belt.”

Pettis has had a belt before. In the WEC’s swan song, WEC 53, he became an insta-legend with his “Showtime Kick” off the cage that clipped Benson Henderson in the face. A few minutes later, after a five-round classic, he had the promotion’s lightweight title wrapped around his waist and was on his way to the UFC.

After the merger, it was expected that he would face the winner of the UFC 125 title fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, where his WEC belt would be unified with the UFC’s. But that fight was a draw, and a rematch was ordered up.

Instead of waiting for what would’ve been at least a year, Pettis took a fight with Clay Guida in June 2011 after both Edgar and Maynard suffered training injuries that delayed their rematch.

And he lost.

Instantly, the critics came out. Naturally, they said Pettis wasn’t as good as advertised. Clearly, the WEC’s talent at lightweight had a lot to learn about playing at the UFC level, they said.

His next fight, against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 136, he got by with a split decision – and the small pack of doubters added a few more to its ranks.

But Pettis didn’t concern himself much with that after either fight. And he certainly didn’t worry much when he delivered a highlight-reel head kick against Joe Lauzon at UFC 144 this past February that won him “Knockout of the Night” in Japan – and had most everyone forgetting about Guida and Stephens and talking about “Showtime” again.

“Coming off the performance against Ben Henderson – look at where Ben Henderson’s at (now),” he said. “When I fought him, I had one of the best fights of my life that night. I was on point and everything was perfect. In the Guida fight, I didn’t feel the same. It was a combination of a lot of things that led me to have that performance. As MMA fighters, if we have a bad day, that bad day lasts with us till our next fight. On a regular job, if you have a bad day, the next day you have a chance to redeem yourself. Not us. Everybody only remembers your last fight.

“There were a lot of doubters. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the social media stuff. I know my skills and how good I am and how I can fight. And I showed it in the past. It’s not a fluke – it’s not lucky that I beat Ben Henderson. It’s not lucky that I beat all these other guys. It’s just sometimes you have off days.”

Pettis doesn’t plan on an off day against Cerrone. He’ll have a national TV audience on FOX for an opportunity to gain some new fans, and he gets to fight just 90 miles from Milwaukee in his home-away-from-home in Chicago.

A win over Cerrone is very likely to get Pettis a shot at the UFC’s lightweight title against the winner of Henderson and Nate Diaz, who meet this Saturday at UFC on FOX 5 in Seattle. If Henderson wins, it would be a rematch from that legendary final WEC fight.

But Pettis has heard all of this before. He counts on nothing.

“Even if they tell me directly that I’m at the top of the top, I still wouldn’t believe it,” Pettis said. “I’m not even playing into that title shot stuff anymore. When it comes, it comes. I’ll just keep lining them up.

“I should’ve had a title shot two years ago, and here we are in 2013, and I still have to fight my way to the top. I’m not complaining about it, but there was a lot of stuff that didn’t happen. Until it really happens, then I’ll believe it.”

That whole “lining them up” and taking things as they come stuff? Must be the wise old man in him.

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